Nearly a hundred social, cultural, and sporting events constitute the program of the 3rd annual Prague Pride festival, held from the 12th to the 18th August 2013. The diverse program caters to domestic as well as foreign participants and can be found on www.praguepride.com.
The main theme of Prague Pride 2013 is coming out. To be yourself, to live without having to pretend or hide is still a problem for many gays and lesbians in the Czech society. According to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) only 11% of Czech gays and lesbians are out in their workplace. In the Czech political scene there is not a single politician that voluntary came out publicly. Therefore, one of the highlights of the festival will be a debate on coming out and politics, with U.S. Congressman David Cicilline, the conservative British MP Michael Freer and liberal Dutch MP Mark Verheijen, among others.
This year’s theme will also be visible in other events, like meetings on coming out for seniors, HIV positive people as well as the hearing impaired. Coming out in sports will be addressed in a discussion with representatives of sports organizations, journalists and athletes themselves. Participants of Prague Pride will also be able to participate in football, volleyball, squash and women’s rugby.
For the first time there will also be a Pride Piazetta next to the National Theatre during the week, which will be a venue for several events during the day and in the evenings. It will be a place of to meet participants, guests and the organisers of the festival and enjoy different kind of performances, shows, film screenings, Silent Disco and much more. It is also the location for a photo exhibition on coming out, with portraits of gays and lesbians in different environments together with people to whom they came out.
Other highlights of the program include the election of Mr Bear Czech Republic, a photo shoot for the NOH8 campaign and the annual Business Forum. The traditional accompanying program of Transgender Me will feature an international exhibition of contemporary art focussing on transgenders from different cultures and times.
The highlight of the festival will be the colourful parade with subsequent concert on Saturday the 17th August. The parade will start at 14.00h at the Estates Theatre and passes through the historical centre of Prague to Letná Park, where a concert with two stages will be held. The main star of the concert is the New York based project Hercules and Love Affair Sound System, along with Czech bands Cartonnage, Lanugo and others. You will have the change to chill out at the JarmarQ, an information fair where you can get acquainted with the work of various Czech organizations dealing with LGBT themes
Prague Pride brings a few thousand foreign visitors to the Czech capital and their numbers are increasing every year. Several events will cater to them specifically, such as a LGBT tour through the historic city centre, a boat trip and tour through Prague’s gay scene. New this year are the running tours, where visitors can experience the city while jogging.
